avrr-newsletter spring 2015 en · escorts. iom austria has a list and can organize a suitable...

AVRR Newsletter Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration from Austria International Organization für Migration Spring 2015

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues, As you know, we aim to continually improve and expand our offers of sup-port for returnees and stakeholders. In this endeavour we mainly rely on feedback from our partners, on our own experience and on scientific fin-dings to guide us. Although return migration still only plays a small role in migration research, every now and again there are scientific discussions about this topic that can enhance our work. In this context, we would like to present a report on comparative research on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of migrants, which was conducted in cooperation with the Australian Government, the Maastricht University and IOM. In this issue you will also find the fourth part of our series “Voluntary Re-turn and Health” focusing on travel requirements, as well as the story of three entrepreneurs who returned to different countries of origin and de-cided to open a grocery store. Last but not least, in order to brighten your day, we would like to introduce someone who plays a very special role in our activities in the field of As-sisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration: the IOM Plastic Bag. We wish you a pleasant read! With best regards, Your AVRR Team IOM Country Office for Austria

Editorial

In this edition:

New publication: Comparative Research on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants…………………………………..….p. 2 Series „Return and Health Aspects“: Travel Requirements………………...p. 3 - 5 Three countries - Three returnees - One bus iness idea : The Gro cery Store………………………………………p. 6 - 7 IOM Newsletter starring IOM Plastic Bag……………………………………………..p. 8

Department for Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration International Organization for Migration Country Office for Austria Nibelungengasse 13/4 1010 Vienna +43 (0) 1 585 3322 22

This newsletter and the activities described within are co-funded by the European Return Fund and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

1

© IOM 2012.

AVRR Newsletter International Organization for Migration Austria Spring 2015

2

Comparative analysis of 15 host countries, transit countries and countries of origin The Comparative Research on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants compares and analyses 15 countries (host, transit and countries of origin) as well as information from 274 interviewed migrants. The migrants were asked about the motives of their return in order to determine the factors that influence migrants’ decisions to return or not. A country annex was compiled for each of the eight count-ries of origin where a total of 157 migrants were intervie-wed. The annexes provide an overview of the local situation and migration trends as well as background information about the field research. Furthermore, interview patterns and key findings regarding the decisive factors for return and reintegration in the respective countries are presented. Multidimensional index for measuring sustainability One important finding of this research is that the conditions in the migrants’ host countries constitute a key factor when deciding whether to return or not. Further influences include individual and social factors, political interventions (such as incentives to return) as well as the conditions in the country of origin, which turned out to be less relevant. Apart from providing a good overview of the current state of research, one of the research team’s major contributions is the development of a multidimensional index for measuring the sustainability of return and reintegration. This index determines several variables for measuring the economic, socio-cultural and security dimensions of a reintegration process. The economic dimension comprises variables such as employment and the number of incomes of a family living in one household, while the socio-cultural dimension is measured according to participation in local events or self-perception and general satisfaction with one’s life.

The research team has undertaken pioneering work by tes-ting this newly developed index for the first time through field research. Despite the fact that it only touches upon a limited number of topics and that the number of interviewed returnees cannot be considered representative, the study provides a solid basis for further research. Koser, Khalid/ Kuschminder, Katie (2015), Comparative Re-searck on the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants; IOM: Geneva https://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/What-We-Do/docs/AVRR-Research-final.pdf

New Publication:

Comparative Research on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants

In January 2015 Khalid Koser and Katie Kuschminder, two renowned researchers in the field of migration, launched a re-port on Comparative Research on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants. This research project was commissioned by the Australian Government (Department of Immigration and Boarder Protection) and conducted in cooperation with IOM and Maastricht University.

5


Series „Return and Health Aspects“

Part 4: Travel Requirements

This part of our series on return and health is about additional travel requirements that can be necessary in the context of the return of a person with medical needs. Which preparations and clarifications are neces-sary in order to adequately support returnees throug-hout their journey and guarantee a smooth and safe procedure, also for other travellers?

For most people, returning to their country of origin is a significant event in their lives. For people who suffer from health-related problems, this step is even more substantial and often more difficult – they therefore require intensive counselling and additional assistance. Through decades of experience, IOM has gained extensive logistical expertise in organizing specific travel requirements for returnees with medical needs and offers specialized assistance. Careful travel arrangements take time In the interest of all parties it is necessary to allow suffi-cient time in a return process for providing the required medical assistance. In order for IOM to organize the return journey for someone who suffers from a medical ailment, a medical certificate is required attesting that he/she is fit for travel. Prior to attaining the certificate, it should be dis-cussed with IOM Operations in which language it should be composed. Furthermore, it needs to be clarified with IOM if the doctor in charge has to fill in a “MEDIF” (medical information) form*, describing the travel requirements. After clarificati-on and flight approval through the airline’s flight physician, IOM organizes the journey according to the airline’s stan-dards which are obligatory for IOM and can include the following measures:

3

* For more detail please have a look at part 3 of our series about Fitness for Travel: AVRR Newsletter Winter 2014/15, http://www.iomvienna.at/sites/default/files/AVRR-Newsletter_Winter%202015_EN.pdf

Many returnees have medical needs. In order to draw attention to the particular challenges involved, we are presenting a series about return and health in the AVRR newsletter.

Capacity to Decide C2D

Medical Eligibility to Return E2R

Fitness for Travel F4T

Travel Requirements TRQ

Post Arrival Assistance PAA

FACTORS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT:

© IOM 2015.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENT COMMENT COSTS

Special meals e.g. for diabetics or people suffering from allergies No extra costs.

Special seat e.g. in close vicinity to toilets No extra costs.

Supplemental oxygen e.g. for people with respiratory infections, chronic anemia and/or cardiovascular diseases. Supplemental oxygen can be requested only during the flight, not in transit areas. Private oxygen tanks are not allowed on board. Not all airlines offer oxygen tanks on their flights (e.g. there is no such service on domestic flights in the Russian Federation).

Airlines charge a fee for providing supplemental oxygen, even if it has not been used on the flight. Additional costs must be clarified beforehand with IOM Operations.

Wheelchair Are provided by airlines from check-in to the seat in the aircraft, and if necessary in transit areas and to baggage claim after arrival. If the returnee brings his/her own electric wheelchair, it has to be transported in the aircraft’s hold. For security reasons, the battery must be removed and transported se-parately.

No extra costs.

Medical escort Only for people who cannot/may not travel without medical escorts. IOM Austria has a list and can organize a suitable escort. They are medical professionals who, if possible, speak the returnee’s language and are familiar with the respective medical problem.

Cost-intensive. Additional costs must be clarified beforehand with IOM Operations.

Wheelchair AND medi-cal escort

Airlines differentiate according to level and cause of the mobility impairment. If the returnee is entirely immobile, he/she cannot travel without escort.

Cost-intensive measure if IOM has to provide a medical escort. Additional costs need to be clarifi-ed beforehand with IOM Operati-ons.

Stretcher In the airplane nine seats are folded down to a flat surface. Only possible for severe illnesses and if the journey takes more than 16 hours. Additionally, a medical escort must be organized.

Very cost-intensive measure, as nine seats plus a medical escort have to be paid for. Additional costs must be clarified beforehand with IOM Operations.


Series “Return and Health Aspects”


© IOM 2009.

4

IOM‘s Recommendations:

• Contact Ms. A.’s relatives in Armenia and make sure that they know about her medical condition and are willing to take care of her after her return.

• Obtain Ms. A.’s written consent to transfer doctor’s let-ters and medication prescriptions to IOM.

• Clarify all the information that could be relevant when organizing the journey with IOM Austria’s Operations department before booking the flight.

The doctor in charge provides Ms. A. a supply of medication for three months as well as the respective prescriptions. The medication should be carried in carry-on luggage in order to avoid that it gets damaged in the hold. Moreover, it needs to be clarified if the import of this medication to Armenia is per-mitted or if there exists a ban on imports. A wheelchair for Ms. A. will be provided by the airline from check-in to her seat in the aircraft as well as to baggage claim after her arrival in Yerevan. The medical escort organized by IOM will accompany Ms. A. into the arrivals hall, where her relatives will be expecting her and will fill out all the necessary documents to take her into their care. * The case studies presented in this series are fictional. How-ever, they are based on our experience working with returnees and are therefore as close to reality as possible.

CASE STUDY*: Ms. A. is 75 years old and comes from Armenia. She wants to spend

the evening of her life in her home country and therefore decides to

return voluntarily. Ms. A reports to her return counsellor that she

has recently undergone surgery for cancer and that she has to take a

great deal of medication.

The doctor treating Ms. A. does not have any objections to the

flight, but recommends that she be escorted by a medical professio-

nal, as Ms. A. is still very weak and needs assistance on the flight

(using the facilities, taking medication, etc.). The doctor in charge

notes down all of this in the MEDIF so that this information is passed

on to the airline. Furthermore, he prescribes a supply of medication

to Ms. A. in order to ensure initial care after her arrival in Armenia.

5


Series “Return and Health Aspects”


Three countries - Three returnees - One business idea:

The Grocery Store


Before setting up a business, numerous aspects such as the type of business, legal form (partnership or sole proprietorship), potential sources of capital, the number of employees and possible necessity for further educati-on or training need to be taken into consideration. The actual implementation varies according to the respective geographical, infrastructural, economical and personal circumstances. Using selected examples, in this article we present one business idea and show how it has been realized in the countries/regions in which IOM Austria currently implements reintegration projects: Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan. To tell this story, we introduce three project participants, Malkan, Abdul and Anjum, and their chosen income-generating reintegration activity: a grocery store. Who are our project participants working in a grocery store? Malkan is a retired math teacher from the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation with approximately 10 years of experience in the trade business.

Before migrating to Austria, she used to sell fruits and vege-tables at the local market in Grozny. In her job she was constantly exposed to the wind and weather. Malkan is divorced and lives with her two adult daughters in Grozny. She left her home country together with her sister, who was suffering from cancer. They spent about 1.5 years in Austria and when it turned out that her sister could not be cured, they decided to go back. Malkan also longed for her family and her old life back home. She said that she would have returned to Chechnya even without the assistance. As a pen-sioner, Malkan receives a small retirement pension from the state, but in order to improve her living conditions she de-cided to continue working after her return. Abdul is the father of two small children and bears the responsibility for providing a promising future for them. Like many other returnees he had the strong wish to reunite with his family in Afghanistan, but for financial reasons it would

have been impossible to fulfill this wish without IOM’s sup-port. After his return, Abdul, who had worked as a driver before leaving Afghanistan, conducted extensive market re-search. Eventually he followed a friend’s advice and joined the trade business by entering into a business partnership. Today he runs a grocery store in Polkhomri (Baghlan pro-vince) together with his business partner. Anjum has not yet started a family. His story of return is a sad one: Anjum’s brother died unexpectedly, which stirred his wish to go back to Pakistan. Since his return he has been living with his parents and his brothers and sisters. He and his brother, who works in agriculture, earn the family’s inco-me and together they provide for the rest of the family. An-jum originally wanted to work in the field of agriculture or open a small computer shop. However, eventually he de-cided to set up a grocery store near Gujranwala (Punjab pro-vince). His decision was mainly based on the fact that before his migration he had worked as a salesman in his cousin’s shop.

The impact of IOM‘s reintegration assistance After her return Malkan used the reintegration grant of EUR 2,000 to open a carefully decorated grocery store, which offers a wide range of different products and is situated in a profitable location; Furthermore, IOM granted her additional support in the amount of EUR 1,000, since she registered as an individual entrepreneur. This additional grant allowed her to improve her business facility and to buy a larger quantity of goods. Thus, IOM’s assistance was very helpful: it enabled Malkan to open her own store; compared to the time prior to her migration this is a significant improvement. Her shop is situated in Grozny in an area which after the destruction of the war is being rebuilt and so far has not attracted many other shopkeepers.

Malkan in her shop in Grozny © IOM 2015. Abdul in his shop in Polkhomri, Afghanistan

© IOM 2014.

6


For Abdul it was the prospect of assistance which made a new start possible in the first place: “I did not have money with me to restart my life in Afghanistan”, Abdul told us. Since then Abdul’s situation has changed significantly. He used his reintegration assistance in the amount of EUR 3,500 as well as a small amount of his own money (EUR 80) to invest in a pre-existing business. This is a common prac-tice in Afghanistan: More than half of the Afghan returnees receiving IOM’s reintegration assistance enter into a busi-ness partnership.

Receiving assistance was very helpful for Anjum in his diffi-cult situation, as he was able to not only provide moral sup-port to his family after the loss of his brother, but also to financially support them by starting his own business. Contrary to Afghanistan, most beneficiaries in Pakistan start their own business; only about five to six per cent of the participants enter into a business partnership. In addition to the reintegration grant of EUR 3,000, Anjum invested EUR 430 of his own money in order to purchase the initial goods and to open a shop which meets his expectations. Nowa-days he benefits from the experience he gained in the past. Successful business people with visions for the future During monitoring visits all three business beneficiaries were asked about their experience with and evaluation of the project, as well as their perception of the situation in their countries compared to the time before their migration. After being absent for about 1.5 years, Malkan perceives her environment to be unaltered in terms of public safety, infrastructure, economy, cultural life and the health system. Her decision to open a shop, however, has paid off so far: The grocery store, which she runs with the help of her adult daughter, is going well. Abdul was very lucky with the choice of his business part-ner. He has lots of experience and is a talented business man, who already had a reasonable number of loyal custom-ers. The shop is profitable for both men and Abdul is there-fore quite satisfied with his current situation. He earns enough to cover his family’s expenses. Abdul was in Austria only for a few months; he perceives the infrastructure, pub-lic safety, and economy in Afghanistan as unchanged, but says that the cultural and health care situation have im-proved.

Anjum spent about three years in Austria and is also satisfied with his income situation today; he has even hired a tempo-rary employee. Unfortunately, the security situation in Paki-stan has worsened in his opinion. However, housing, income and cultural life have improved, while the health system and his personal life have more or less remained the same. All three beneficiaries plan to expand their businesses. Anjum is even willing to take out a loan with relatives or friends for this investment. Three stories of return - one business idea Malkan, Abdul and Anjum had to face different challenges on their way to becoming entrepreneurs; they had different amounts of money on their disposal and they were con-fronted with specific situations in their business and every-day lives. Afghanistan and Pakistan are among the countries with the worldwide lowest potential for human develop-ment; in 2013 they took place 169 and 146 of 187 count-ries in the UMDP Human Development Index; in Chechnya the reception capacities for returnees are limited as well, especially regarding accommodation. In all three countries/regions unemployment is a prominent feature of the econo-mic situation: In Chechnya the unemployment rate is almost at 27 per cent, in Afghanistan between 30 and 45 per cent, depending on the region, and while in Pakistan this rate is officially at 6.9 per cent, this number is not realistic, as the informal economy plays an important role. In these contexts, self-employment often seems to be the only solu-tion. Despite their different initial situations, all three partici-pants could benefit from IOM’s reintegration assistance: It served as foundation for a solid new start as a self-employed professional in their home countries. All three participants stand out due to their willpower and stamina – which is also reflected in their plans to expand their busi-nesses. (1) UNDP (2015): Human Development Index HDI Table, online: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi-table (accessed 20.03.2015) (2) IOM (2014): Country Fact Sheet – Russian Federation (June 2014); online: https://milo.bamf.de/milop/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/702450/698578/704870/698704/698619/17046926/17255781/Russische_F%C3%B6deration_-_Country_Fact_Sheet_2014%2C_englisch.pdf?nodeid=17256545&vernum=-2 (accessed 12.05.2015). (3) IOM (2014) Country Fact Sheet – Afghanistan (October 2014) http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/MILo-DB/DE/Rueckkehrfoerderung/Laenderinformationen/Informationsblaetter/cfs_afghanistan-dl_de.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (accessed 12.05.2015) (4) CIA, The World Factbook – Pakistan: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html (accessed 12.05.2015)

Anjum in his shop near Gujranwala, Pakistan © IOM 2014.

7

AVRR Newsletter starring IOM Plastic Bag Well hello there! I am very glad to finally have the opportunity to introduce myself: I am the IOM plastic bag! You may have heard tell of me or even caught a glimpse of me at the airport, but maybe you haven’t heard about the vital role that I play in ensuring that migrants who receive movement assistance from IOM safely arrive at their destinations. As you already know, IOM’s responsibility in helping migrants doesn’t end when boarding has been completed. In fact, that is just the beginning! Oftentimes migrants travelling with IOM – for example when they are returning to their home country - must change planes along their journey or need help when they arrive. IOM staff mem-bers often stand ready at airports along the migrants’ travel routes in order to ensure that they

make their connecting flights and receive arrival assistance. However, as you can imagine, it can be very difficult for IOM staff members to pick out the IOM travellers from all the passengers who just debarked an airplane or who are entering the arrival hall. That‘s where I come in! Before boarding their initial flight, IOM beneficiaries are handed an IOM plastic bag that they are instructed to carry visibly when exiting the aircraft. Each white plastic bag is emblazoned with a large blue IOM logo, which makes it much easier for IOM staff along the travel route to recognize the people they need to assist. Of course, it happens now and again that someone forgets me in the seat pocket in front of them or neglects to take me out of their bag. This is really too bad, because it often means that the IOM colleagues waiting at the airport don’t find the people they want to assist. If the travelers would have remembered to take me out of their pocket, they would have been spared the stress and hassle of negotiating the airport and customs on their own. Luckily, most people remember to hold me along with the rest of their carry-on luggage and are able to receive assistance during their journey. Some people even find extra uses for me, such as carrying their travel documents or small souvenirs for their families at home. Once the migrants have arrived safe and sound at their final destination, my work is done. Then it is up to my many brothers and sisters to assist future IOM beneficiaries. Look for me next time you visit the airport! Best regards, Your IOM Plastic Bag P.S. Did you know I am a Hollywood star? I play an important role in the movie “The Good Lie”, which stars Reese Wither-

spoon and focuses on a number of “lost boys” from Sudan who start a new life in the USA. Check out the trailer to see me

up close: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUK_PFUr_4

© IOM 2012.


Department for Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration International Organization for Migration Country Office for Austria Nibelungengasse 13/4 1010 Vienna +43 (0) 1 585 3322 22

This newsletter and the activities described within are co-funded by the European Return Fund and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.

8

avrr-newsletter spring 2015 en · escorts. iom austria has a list and can organize a suitable...

Documents